It’s the worst dog bite he’s ever seen.
Sheriff Jeff Richwine filled the Pulaski County Council in on an incident involving one of their deputies and the Starke County K-9 unit. The incident occurred on August 1st when officers were pursuing an assailant on a four-wheeler.
Nick Bowyer was on the receiving end of a dog bite and spent several days in the hospital, but is expected to make a full recovery. Richwine says it started shortly after the K-9 arrived on scene.
“The handler is getting the dog out of the car and he said to everybody ‘you need to get back at least 20 feet’ people were getting in their vehicles to set up a perimeter and the dog shoots out of the car,” says Richwine. “It goes right for Nick and Nick has his back turned, he’s walking to get into his car and it latches onto the back of his arm.”
The chase started in the area of 500 North, west of U.S. 35. The four-wheeler ultimately crashed in the area of County Road 100 West and County Road 600 North where he fled on foot. 43-year-old James Hurt of Ora was eventually arrested at his home.
The problem, according to the discussion, was that the K-9 unit would not release Bowyers arm. The bite continued for about 10 minutes, according to Richwine. Officers ultimately have to utilize the animal’s collar to convince it to release the arm.
The wound, as described during Monday night’s County Council meeting, nearly tore the deputies’ triceps in half.
“So they put a tourniquet on him and got his arm bandaged and they thought it was best to get him to a place where they could get that put back together,” says Richwine.
Bowyer has since been moved to Pulaski County dispatch services to maintain workman’s compensation benefits. He is slated to make a move to Cass County to become a K-9 officer with their Sheriff’s Department.
